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COPYRIGHT DEPOSFL 



PRIMARY 
DEVICES 



BY 



MYRA KING 

AUTHOR OF "LANGUAGE GAMES" AND 
:"TALES OUT OF SCHOOL" 



INTRODUCTIONS BY 

DR. E. C. MOORE, J. B. MONLUX 
M C. BETTINGER 



WAYSIDE PRESS 
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 






Copyright, 1918 

BY 
MYRA KING 



@C!.A511458 



INTRODUCTION 

LOS ANGELES CITY SCHOOLS 
OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT 

Testimonials. 

Miss King's little book will be an aid to anyone who will 
read it thoughtfully. She is a wise teacher who has medi- 
tated on what it means to teach, and has arrived at under- 
standing. I know that what she has written here, will 
be of use to others. It is particularly important, because 
it deals with the littlest children and what affects them is 
the chief concern of all. 

E. C. Moore, 

Dated at Los Angeles, Cal., 
August 7, 1918. 

To Teachers: 

Miss Myra King is bringing out another little book for 
teachers of primary grades, that will be especially helpful 
as it brings out in a helpful way, some of the most important 
habits that should be taught to the children, such as the 
ideas of self-government, respect for law and order and for 
the rights of others, respect for authority, etc., as also the 
ways and means of securing better results in the teaching 
of writing, spelling and allied subjects. 

These ideas have been developed thru actual experience 
in the school room and are full of life and interest. 

I know you will like it. 

J. B. Monlux 
Acting Supt. L. A. City Schools. 

5 



August 10, 1918. 

As in former publications, Miss King has again in this 
book, shown herself a real teacher by keeping within the 
current of nature and therefore in the current of child 
nature. It is an effort to help teachers, especially young 
teachers, to get away from the notion of imposing knowledge 
and information upon children by a power from without 
them, and to get into the current of child mind development 

In doing this, she aims to get and keep ''the whole child 
in school," — his emotional life as well as his mental and 
physical. Truly, one of our gravest errors has been the 
idea that the schools were concerned only with the mental, 
or at best, with the mental and physical. The emotional 
life is the life of the child which makes or mars, and it should 
have its full share of attention in the rchools as well as 
elsewhere. 

This book attempts to do that, and it should be of great 
assistance to teachers, especially beginners. 

M. C. Bettinger, 
Assistant Superintendent of School, 
Los Angeles California. 



CONTENTS 



Habit .... 

Law ..... 

The Question of Flowers 

Spelling .... 

Appreciation of the Beautiful 

Running Races with Themselves 

Seedtime and Harvest . 

The Noon Hour 

Courtesy .... 

Retaliation or Getting Even 

A Spelling Method 

Writing a Slow Race 

"Don't'^ . 

Time Savers . 

Welcoming Committee 

Teachers 

The Teacher's Holiday 

Expression 

''Secrets" or "Surprises' 

Co-Operation 



9 

10 
18 
23 
29 
34 
37 
43 
46 
51 
54 
57 
60 
63 
66 
68 
71 
74 
79 
88 



PREFACE 

A primary teacher, more perhaps, than any other person 
has to be on the alert every moment, always equal to an 
emergency of any kind, from a torn apron to a broken 
heart, and from the application of the multiplication table 
to an explanation of the causes back of the sunrise. 

For these reasons, an unlimited supply of helpful sug- 
gestions are a necessary requisite to successful and timely 
encounter with these problems. 

This Httle book is intended to furnish a variety of such j 

helpful hints, which have proved their value in actual j 

service, along the different lines of primary work. ] 

MYRA KING I 



PRIMARY DEVICES 

HABIT 

The children will love to do things correctly 
when they have formed the habit of so doing. 
So the essential thing is to find all the little means 
and methods that can be used in estabhshing 
correct habits along all hnes of speech, thought 
and action. 

These Httle devices are nothing in themselves 
— only a means to an end and as soon as they have 
served their purpose they should be dropped. 

The child is continually forming new habits, 
either good or bad, habits of industry, habits 
of independence, of success, of application, etc., 
or their opposites, habits of idleness, dependence, 
failure, etc., and it is the teacher's business to 
see that the habits formed are correct ones, for 
valuable as the subjects taught him are to be 
to him in the future, the habits formed in his 
school days are even more valuable, for after all 
the whole process of education is merely a habit- 
forming process. 

9 



LAW 

The place to establish right habits of thought 
and right modes of action is with the very little 
people. Their willingness to be guided and their 
eagerness to learn the right way make it a delight 
to guide the little feet to higher planes. We do 
not have to wait till they are in the upper grades 
before they can study "Civil Government.^' 
They can and should begin in the 1st grade to 
learn about 'law/' and this will not be a hard- 
ship or an added burden either to the teacher or 
to the children but a joy and a lightening of 
burdens as their highest sense of law is made 
practical by applying it to their school problems 
in all their details. 

The first requisite is to make them understand 
that law is for the good of all — to enlarge the 
liberties of all^— and to limit nothing but wrong. 
In other words they should be taught to love 
law. Then the next step — the keeping of the 
law — will become not merely a duty but a pleas- 
ure. This is the time to teach them to respect 
law. This is the time to teach them that they 

10 



PRIMARY DEVICES 11 

can neither break or evade a right law without 
injuring themselves as well as others. This is 
also the time to teach them their individual 
responsibility in helping to make good laws. 

This work may be begun by showing them that 
the universe is governed by law, that without 
law chaos and confusion would reign. And this 
need take very little time — only four or five 
minutes in the morning and as much again in 
the evening. 

To illustrate, the following sample lessons are 
submitted. 

After the children are seated and the attend- 
ance noted on Monday morning, say to the class: 
^'How many saw the sun rise this morning?^' 
Immediately many little hands will be raised. 
Then ask: ^'How many saw it rise yesterday?'^ 
Again there will be a display of hands. 

Then say: ^'Did you ever think how regularly 
the sun gets up every morning? It never forgets 
— it is never too late and never too early — always 
just on time. Suppose it should forget sometimes 



12 PRIMARY DEVICES 

and so be a few hours early or a few hours late?^^ 

Instantly a number of little hands will signify 
a desire to talk on the question. Allow a minute 
or two for the children to express their views and 
then say: ^'The sun gets up just at the right 
time every morning because it is obeying certain 
laws which goven it. Now we have laws to 
govern our school which we must obey if we would 
have everything pleasant and everybody happy. 
Who can think of one of these laws-" A number 
of uplifted hands will evidence a recognition of 
your meaning. 

Perhaps some child will say: ^'Miss Smith 
(the principal) told the boys the other day that 
we must not get a drink after the bell rings. 
Isn't that a law?" If this seems the best law 
to choose from among those given, explain to 
the children why ''Miss Smith" made it. Show 
them that the boys and girls are apt to get so 
interested in their play that they forget all about 
a drink till the bell rings. Then all rush to the 
water, so causing confusion and consequently 



PRIMARY DEVICES 13 

delay in getting at their work. Show them that 
this ''law" is for the good of all and they will 
be eager to keep it. 

Then say: ''Now I am going to see how many 
keep this "law" today. I am going to write 
''Monday" here on the front board and this 
evening just before we go home, I am going to 
ask how many have kept the law. 

Nothing more need be said on the subject till 
the close of the day. When the children are all 
ready to go home, go to the board where the 
word "Monday" is written and say to the class: 
"How many kept the law today?" Count the 
number of uplifted hands and write the number 
after the word "Monday." Then show an en- 
thusiastic appreciation of their effort by some 
such commendatory remark as, ' 'Oh, I'm so glad 
there were so many who remembered. They 11 
be the men and women who know how to keep 
the taw when they are big." Don't say anything 
about those who didn't keep it. 

On Tuesday morning write the word "Tues- 



14 PRIMARY DEVICES 

day'^ under ^'Monday" — this may be done with 
colored chalk — and say to the class: ^*I^m going 
to ask to-night how many have kept the 'law' 
today/' When evening comes write after ^'Tues- 
day'' the number of those who kept the ^law'' 
that day. Make some appropriate, appreciative 
remarks as before — much depends on this. 

Repeat this every day during the week and by 
Friday almost every child will be ^'keeping the 
law.'' 

The next Monday take up some new ^'law" — 
being sure to let the children have their part in 
selecting it — and follow the same method as in 
the previous week. Say to them, ''We are not 
going to forget to keep this old law ' while we're 
keeping the new one so I'm going to ask how 
many have kept the old 'law * each day although 
I'm not going to put the number on the board." 

At the end of two or three weeks the ^'old 
law" will have become so well established — so 
habitually kept that it may be spoken of only 
occasionally, but it should not be forgotten or 



PRIMARY DEVICES 15 

neglected. As often as possible the teacher should 
speak of it. This may be done by some such 
remarks as these: ''Oh, you don^t know how 
happy it made me to see how many of my boys 
kept the law about getting a drink this noon.^' 
or "I have been noticing for some time how 
carefully John is keeping that law about getting 
a drink after the bell rings. '^ This will be espec- 
ially effective if John is one of the boys who was 
slow to keep the "law'^ in the beginning. 

Some of the "laws'^ of which the children will 
readily think may be: "We must not throw 
paper in the yard/^ or "We must not go off the 
grounds without permission/^ and they may be 
established in the same way. 

After the class has worked in this way for some 
weeks and they begin to understand the meaning 
of law they may profitably commence making 
laws for themselves. 

Before this is attempted the teacher should 
explain in a few words what it means to vote and 
then ask the class to name some laws which they 



16 PRIMARY DEVICES 

think it would be well to keep. Usually a num- 
ber will be given as: ^'We must not whisper/' 
^'We must not waste any time'' or ^*We must 
not say any cross words.'' 

After the teacher has selected one of these the 
children vote on it by raising their hands. If it 
becomes a law it is kept before their thought as 
were the others. In the evening find how many 
have kept the ^ law" and commend them heartily, 
with some such words as: ^'What a glad or busy 
day this has been — the quiet pleasant room has 
made it so easy to get our work done, etc., etc." 
Perhaps some one will say: ^'But, Miss Blank, 
Jimmie had his hand up and he didn't keep the 
law." The most effective way to deal with this 
will be to say something of this kind: ''Didn't 
he? Well that's too bad. I didn't think Jimmie 
would do that way. He can't be very happy." 
Then drop it — say no more about it and ' 'Jimmie" 
will be pretty sure to "keep the law" the next 
day. 

One of the most important things in this work 



PRIMARY DEVICES 17 

is to be sure that the teacher does not condemn 
or in any way discriminate against those who 
do not ^'keep the law" but that she gets her 
results by commending those who do. In this 
way the public spirit of the school will soon be a 
power for good which those who may not be in- 
clined at first to ^'keep the law'' will not care to 
disregard. 

It is generally admitted that early impressions 
are the most lasting and if the children get this 
right concept of law before they hear wrong and 
prejudiced concepts from their elders much will 
have been done for them. 

If this method is adhered to throughout the 
lower grades much of what we call discipline in 
the upper grades will have become unnecessary. 

It is absolutely necessary, however, in order to 
make a success of this work that the teacher be 
alert, loving and tactful. 



'THE QUESTION OF FLOWERS" 

The question of flowers is often a puzzling one 
to the primary teacher whose artistic sense is 
daily offended by the conglomerate mass of short- 
stemmed blossoms, held tightly in hot little hands, 
which find their way to her desk every morning. 

But it need not trouble her for there is an easy, 
beautiful and satisfactory solution to this as to 
all other problems when we look for it earnestly. 
This is offered as one way — doubtless there are 
many others which each teacher will discover for 
herself — it is to have a ' 'flower committee '^ 
appointed at the end of the week to serve for the 
following week. This committee should consist 
of four or five members and should include boys 
as well as girls. 

When this method is first adopted the teacher 
will have to be wise in her appointments as some 
of the children, especially the boys, may be timid 
about bringing out their ideas, but if she begins 
by selecting those who seem to have a natural 
aptitude for bringing out harmonious conditions 
along this line, soon every child in the room will 

18 



PRIMARY DEVICES 19 

be available for the work and in due course each 
one should have his part in it. 

It shall be the duty of the members of the com- 
mittee to be on the school-grounds as early in 
the morning as the rules of the school will permit. 
Each child who brings flowers must find some 
member of the committee on the grounds and 
deliver to that member his donation. The mem- 
bers of the committee must have the privilege 
of coming into the room as the flowers begin to 
arrive and there will soon be an abundant supply. 
When ^'school begins '^ part of the time allowed 
for opening exercises should be given to an ap- 
preciative consideration of the results of the work 
of the committee. The primary teacher here, 
as elsewhere, must be an enthusiast. She should 
look for and commend all the little individual 
touches and original effects calling the attention 
of the class to the harmonious results attained. 

One morning, perhaps, she will find that a 
single beautiful rose has been placed by itself 
in a tall slender vase. This will give an oppor- 



20 PRIMARY DEVICES 

tunity to show the children that the beauty of 
the rose is dependent on its form as well as on 
its color, also on its freedom to display not only 
its form and color but the grace of its motion as 
well. To illustrate — the teacher says with gen- 
uine pleasure which at once communicates itself 
to the class, ^*0h, see the beautiful red rose in 
this tall vase — see its nice long stem. And aren't 
we glad that we had this tall vase to hold it! 
Now,'' giving the vase a gentle shake, ^ 'watch 
it nod its head. It think it is saying 'Good 
morning' to us. It couldn't do that if it were 
crowded in with a lot of other flowers. It's just 
like boys and girls — they couldn't do their work 
properly if they were crowded so close together 
that they couldn't move. I'm so glad out com- 
mittee arranged this rose just this way, for I 
think it's just beautiful, etc., etc." 

Another morning she may find a long branch 
set with flowers trained up the wall, over the 
blackboard or across the window. This will be 
another opportunity to show the advantage of 
picking the flowers with long stems. 



PRIMARY DEVICES 21 

Still another time there will be a great bunch of 
poppies or other flowers all of one kind. This 
will afford an occasion to teach the children how 
much more pleasure they will get from their 
flowers if they do not have too many kinds to- 
gether. 

Sometimes they may have a ^'rose day*^ or a 
* Violet'^ or ''wild flower day'^ confining their 
decorations to the one kind of flowers. 

Of course the committee must understand that 
they are responsible for the appearance of the 
room — floor, tables, etc., before their work is 
finished and that all old flowers, litter and other 
waste matter must be properly disposed of as a 
part of their work. 

Very soon the school-room will begin to be a 
bower of flowers — will begin to ' *bud and blossom 
as the rose.'' The children will get an unlimited 
amount of pleasure and profit from the work, 
the teacher will be relieved of caring for the 
flowers, and not only this but the influence of 
their awakened thought will be felt in the homes 



22 PRIMARY DEVICES 

t 
and the lessons in bringing out harmony, so learned i 

will be invaluable to them throughout the years. 

And last, but not least, there will be a marked j 

effect on the discipline in the room. ■ 



SPELLING 

Most of us as primary teachers have had long 
and protracted struggles with the spelling prob- 
lem in the lower grades, and, as long as we must 
teach children to spell by the old hard method, 
are always grateful for any suggestions that will 
make the work less laborious for teacher and pupil 
and will at the same time bring about right results. 

The important thing in this work is to find a 
way to keep every child eagerly, honestly and 
persistently at work till the lesson is learned, 
which will not take long if they are working in 
the right way and in the right spirit. 

The following method has been found very 
successful. 

Arrange to have ten or fifteen minutes, more if 
possible, to devote to the study of the day's 
spelling. Then say to the class: ^'Now, I am 
going to give you three, four or five minutes, '^ 
as you can afford, ' 'to study, while I sit here and 
watch to see who are the good workers.'' 

Every child in the room will instantly go to 

work with a will. 

23 



24 PRIMARY DEVICES 

When the given time has expired, the teacher, 
who is watching the clock as well as the children 
says: ^ 'Who is ready to spell for me?^' Then she 
selects from those who think they are ready, 
one whom she ^'saw working hard'^ saying some- 
thing to this effect, ^ 'I think I'll try John — I saw 
him doing some good work/' 

John comes forward to the teacher's desk and 
spells the entire lesson for her at the same time 
watching to see who among his classmates is 
giving his whole attention to his study. 

If John succeeds in spelling all the words he 
then becomes a teacher and asks who is ready to 
spell for him. He chooses from among those who 
raise their hands, as the teacher did, one whom 
he saw at work, as Ben. He and Ben stand a 
little distance from the teacher's desk and Ben 
spells all the words for John, both boys keeping 
a close watch to see who among those at their 
seats are doing good work. 

When Ben has finished he and John are both 
teachers and ask those of the class who are ready 



PRIMARY DEVICES 25 

to spell to raise their hands. Then each teacher 
selects one whom he saw working hard as 'Tom** 
and ^Tred.** These boys come forward and spell 
while those at their seats continue their study. 

When Tom and Fred have finished spelling, 
they select four more good workers who spell for 
them and so the work goes on. In a short time 
every child in the room has spelled all the lesson 
and has done some good study in order to be able 
to do it. 

The teacher will have general supervision and 
if one of the ' 'teachers'' chooses a child who has 
not been working she will have to say: 'T didn't 
see Dick working hard enough. You'll have to 
choose someone else." 

This spelling is done aloud and after several 
are on the floor spelling, there will be a general 
hum of voices, but the children soon get used to 
that and those at their seats will go on with their 
study ,paying no attention to those who are spell- 
ing. 

After they have become accustomed to spelling 



26 PRIMARY DEVICES 

in this way, it will be helpful to let them — those 
who wish to do so — commit to memory the whole 
lesson and spell it without having the words 
pronounced. Then they may be allowed to 
commit the list backwords and in other ways of 
which they will often think themselves. This 
will give variety and interest to the work. 

This ten or fifteen minutes will be a time when 
the teacher will have to speak loud to make 
herself heard, but it will be a busy time when 
every child will be giving his every thought to 
his work and the result will be that almost every 
child will have a perfect spelling lesson in the 
written work which follows. 

If, during^ this busy time, the teacher wishes 
to be heard, she taps the bell and instantly every 
child is quiet till they have her permission to go 
on with their work. 

It is well to have this study period immediately 
precede the written spelling. 

Just before the children are dismissed in the 
evening the teacher reads the names of those who 



PRIMARY DEVICES 27 

had perfect lessons and returns to them, their 
papers marked ^'100'^ in red ink. Before long, 
almost every child in the room will have a paper 
with ^'100'' on it to take home, and they will 
treasure these papers very carefully. 

Those who have made mistakes do not have 
their papers returned but the teacher keeps a 
list of all misspelled words and repeats them in the 
next lesson till they are learned also. If the class 
is spelling from a book, the assigned lesson should 
be shortened to allow room for these misspelled 
words which are placed on the board. 

This will soon do away with the need of keeping 
children after school to learn misspelled words. 

With the aid of some little paper fasteners and 
their colored crayons the children will enjoy mak- 
ing little decorated book covers the size and shape 
of their spelling papers in which to put their 
perfect papers so making a book of their ' *100^s." 

During many years of work in the primary 
grades, I have never found a method so successful 
in getting right results in everything that has to 



28 PRIMARY DEVICES 

do with spelling as the one here outlined. The 
children not only learn the spelling, but they 
learn how to study, how to apply themselves to 
their work, even when surrounded by the hum of 
voices and they learn that they can have perfect 
lessons and learn to expect that of themselves 
habitually. Then there is no opportunity here 
for dishonesty — each must depend on his own 
effort and he learns to do it. 



APPRECIATION OF THE BEAUTIFUL 

Many of the little people are able to appre- 
ciate — in some measure, the natural beauty around 
them when they first come to school, but more of 
them, coming from homes where only the so-called 
practical is counted of importance, will never be 
even conscious of the beautiful in nature which 
greets them at every turn unless they are definitely 
taught to look for it and this also must be the work 
of the school. 

Much may be accomplished along this line 
with very little time and almost no preparation. 
The teacher, however, will have to be an enthusiast 
here as elsewhere. 

Many little opportunities will offer every day 
for directing the children's thought to some 
phase of beauty in their surroundings. A few 
suggestions are here offered. 

Say to the class some morning when the dawn 
has been especially beautiful: 'T wonder how 
many of my boys and girls saw the sun get up 
this morning" or "I wonder how many were 
ahead of the sun this morning and were up before 

29 



30 PRIMARY DEVICES 

he had dried up all the dew/' or some other similar 
thing. 

Perhaps John will raise his hand enthusiastically 
eager to tell you that he got up when Father did 
this morning, before daylight and that ^'every- 
thing was so still — you couldn't hear a sound till 
the sun came up, when suddenly all the birds 
began singing at once as if they were telling the 
sun 'Good Morning'/' 

Or perhaps Mary will tell you that the sky in 
the east this morning was ^'just the color of the 
big lilac bush in our back yard when it is in full 
bloom." 

All these little evidences of the recognition of 
beauty should meet with the teacher's sympathetic 
appreciation. 

The same plan may be followed in awakening 
them to observe the sunset. 

Say to them some morning, ^'How many saw 
the beautiful sunset last night?" Perhaps several 
will have noticed it and will be eager to tell you 
that it looked ^'just like a great pile of roses" or 
^'a great sheet of gold," etc. Let them talk 



PRIMARY DEVICES 31 

just a minute and then go on with the other work. 
The chances are that the next time you talk about 
sunsets, which should be within a few days, you 
will find a larger number prepared to talk on the 
subject. 

These little talks need occupy only two or three 
minutes but will be far reaching in their results. 

Perhaps Tom will come in some morning, just 
at the last minute, his face beaming with smiles, 
and his hat full of big red apples ^ 'for the teacher" 
or he may come bearing triumphantly the ''big- 
gest bunch of grapes in the vineyard." Tom has 
favored the teacher with these, his best, because 
''they are good to eat," but the wide awake 
teacher will see herein an opportunity to direct 
thought to the beautiful and while she shows her 
appreciation of Tom's thoughtfulness by some 
fitting reamrk as, "Won't they be fine with my 
lunch, etc.", she may hold them up before the 
class calling attention to their beauty — beauty 
of color, form, arrangement, etc., so that Tom 
may learn that his gift is valued not only because 



32 PRIMARY DEVICES 

it is ^'good to eat/' but because it ministers to a 
higher sense — the love of the beautiful — as well. 

Again some glorious spring morning, when the 
air is odorous with the breath of spring flowers, 
and every little head is bent intently over its 
daily work, suddenly the school-room may be 
flooded with melody — the overflowing joyousness 
of the little feathered songster swinging on the 
branch just outside the window. 

This will be another opportunity. Very quietly 
the children's attention may be directed to the 
little musician and they may be invited to put 
aside their work for a few minutes and enjoy this 
^'free concert." If this kind of thing is done 
frequently and in the right spirit by the teacher, 
there need be no fear that the children will take 
advantage or be disorderly — on the contrary, 
they will grow more reverent toward the good 
and the beautiful in everything and will respond 
to the trust placed in them in a most satisfactory 
way. 

There will be no days that do not afford some 



PRIMARY DEVICES 33 

opportunity for recognizing beauty of some kind 
On a cloudy day attention may be called to the 
great piles of white clouds that look like snow- 
covered peaks, or like ocean billows, or to the long 
rows of black ones that look like distant mountain 
ranges, etc.; on a rainy day to the soft patter of 
the rain drops as they quietly do their work of 
cleansing and refreshing; on a cold day to the 
clearness of the atmosphere; on a hot day to the 
gentle little breezes that mitigate the heat, etc., 
thus teaching the children to look for and to find 
some redeeming feature in every situation. 

They may get much pleasure from watching the 
growth and development of their house plants 
or in daily noting the unfolding of a rose. One 
rose bud may be kept by itself in a vase, appro- 
priate in size and shape, and its daily unfoldment 
will be a dehght to the children. If picked early 
and with proper care it will last two weeks and 
unfold gradually and naturally. 

These are just a few of the many little oppor- 
tunities that will come into every teacher's experi- 
ence — others will abound as both teacher and 
children begin to look for them. 



RUNNING RACES WITH THEMSELVES. 

One of the most necessary things and sometimes 
one of the most difficult things to secure with 
young children, is application. They mean to 
do — and they mean to do their best, and they 
mean to do it now — their intentions are always 
above reproach, but things around are so inter- 
esting, so insistent in claiming and holding their 
attention, though they intend ^'to look only for 
a minute" that before they realize it, the time is 
all gone and the spelling isn't learned, the examples 
aren't worked, etc. 

For this reason, a variety of little devices for 
teaching application will be welcomed by the 
primary teacher. 

One thing that may be done frequently and in 
a variety of ways is to let them run races with 
thems9lves. 

Have a short study period which the whole 
class is to devote to the study of spelling. Stand 
before the class and say: ^ T am going to give you 
just one minute to study spelling and want you 
to keep account of the number of times you go 

34 



PRIMARY DEVICES 35 

over it" — they can do this with their fingers, by- 
making little marks on papers, one for every time 
they go over the lesson, or in any way that they 
may think of. When the minute is gone, tap the 
bell, at which signal all study must stop, and 
allow each child to tell you how many times he 
studied the lesson. Then give them another 
minute letting them work and stopping them as 
before, but with the understanding that each is 
running a race with himself and is trying to get 
over the lesson more times than he did in the 
other minute. When this minute is gone, allow 
all who accomplished this, and so ''won the race'* 
to raise their hands and to tell you how many 
more times they studied it this time than before. 

Immediately let them run another race and 
another race till all the study time, perhaps ten 
or twelve minutes has been consumed. By this 
time, almost every child will be ready with a 
perfect spelling lesson and will have learned , 
unconsciously, a valuable lesson in application 
besides. 



36 PRIMARY DEVICES 

This method may be used with one or more 
of the particularly hard words in the lesson, with 
the tables, memory gems or any other memory 
work. 



SEED TIME AND HARVEST 

The primary teacher, perhaps more than any 
other individual, needs to remember that the 
harvest cannot differ essentially from the seed, 
and that the child-thought is the fertile and 
tillable soil in which she is daily sowing seed 
which must sooner or later in the very nature of 
things yield fruit of a like character. 

Great responsibilities and great privileges are 
those of the primary teacher and while she should 
not allow the sense of responsibility to make her 
work burdensome yet she should be constantly 
alert that her sowing be of a kind that is worthy 
of reproduction. 

To many children, ''the teacher" is the highest 
authority on all subjects and if ''the teacher said 
so" there is nothing more to be said on the sub- 
ject — no question to be raised — her word is "law 
and gospel" to them. 

For this reason the teacher should be very 
careful what she says and how she says it. 

In the hurry and press of a full day, it is very 
easy to say some little thoughtless, impatient 

37 



38 PRIMARY DEVICES 

thing which is immediately forgotten by the busy 
teacher, but which takes deep root in the childish 
thought and sooner or later bears fruit, after its 
kind, of which could she see it and know it, as 
the result of her sowing, the teacher would not 
be proud. 

The following little story is a case in point. 

A boy of sixteen — a good, industrious, well- 
meaning, intelligent boy, whose father was a man 
of intelligence and of some influence for good 
in the city, had fallen so far behind his class in 
mathematics in its various branches that he could 
not be promoted. This had happened several 
times, till now he was two or three grades behind 
the boys and girls of his own age. 

In the city where this bo}^ lived, the school 
authorities were especially awake to the children's 
needs and left no means untried to do the best 
they could see to do for the progress of each in- 
dividual child. 

This boy, therefore, had special help in an 
ungraded room and every other advantage that 



PRIMARY DEVICES 39 

the loving thoughtfuUness of those in charge 
could devise. 

But the boy continued to fail in that one par- 
ticular branch of the work. 

Living on the same street with this boy's family 
was a teacher who taught in the district in which 
the boy belonged although he was at that time, 
attending an ungraded room at some distance. 

One morning early, the mother of the boy came 
in tears to this teacher. 'Tell me" she said 
^Svhat to do with Rob — he is walking the floor, 
swearing, and declaring that he will never go into 
a school-room again. What shall I do?" 

''Why" answered the teacher, when she had 
questioned a little, "there's only one thing to 
do — teach him till he begins to understand the 
subject — begins to have a grasp on it and so begins 
to have confidence in himself." 

"But" answered the tearful mother, between 
her sobs, ' 'he can't learn arithmetic — a teacher 
once told him so — neither can his older brother — 
it runs in the family, etc., etc." 



40 PRIMARY DEVICES 

^'Yes, but he can/' answered the teacher whose 
experience with children had been long and varied, 
^'get right at work and teach him/' 

^*I don't know how" said the mother, ^'will 
you do it?" 

^'Yes," answered the teacher, ^'send him over 
this evening." 

In the evening the boy came over and had his 
first lesson. They began at foundation principles 
but the teacher's special object was to find out, 
by careful questioning and loving patience, just 
where the trouble lay. 

Finally it was disclosed that when the boy was 
in one of the lower grades and was one day having 
a severe battle with what was to him a stupendous 
problem, the teacher, who was trying to help him, 
becoming impatient with the slowness with which 
he grasped her explanations, turning hurriedly 
away to another child, had left him with the 
remark, ''Oh, you can't understand it — you'll 
never be able to learn arithmetic anyway, etc., 
etc." 



PRIMARY DEVICES 41 

An older brother having had a similar experi- 
ence previously — having been told the same thing 
— it was very naturally concluded that inability 
to ^ learn arithmetic" was a family failing. 

The older brother after many struggles, had 
yielded to discouragement, given up school and 
gone to work. Now the younger boy was con- 
fronted with the same situation. He said, ' 'There^s 
no use — I can't learn arithmetic — I may as well 
quit and go to work." 

The teacher, realizing that the boy was so 
discouraged that he could not make any effort, 
began with what she was sure he did know. 
She talked with him also — told him that he was 
a bright, intelligent boy and needed only to apply 
himself, etc., etc. Gradually she advanced to 
new subjects, tactfully and lovingly helping him 
over the hard places till he began to have confi- 
dence in himself and consequently courage to 
make the necessary effort. The transformation 
was wonderful. 

At the end of a few weeks, he came as usual, 



42 PRIMARY DEVICES 

one evening for his lesson. His face was all aglow. 
^'Miss Gardner/^ he said, "Vm. going back to 
school.'^ Needless to say that they rejoiced 
together. 

Miss Gardner, being at that time principal in 
the district ,was able to keep loving watch over 
the boy^s progress. The result was that he went 
steadily forward and graduated from the Grammar 
school with credit. 

This is only one of the many instances that 
might be cited where impatient or thoughtless 
remarks — careless sowing — by the teacher has 
yielded a crop of weeds that had either to be 
uprooted as was done in this case, or that grew 
and multiplied to such an extent that they occu- 
pied the whole ground and so choked and starved 
the good seed that it has been unable to find any 
sustenance or any room for growth. 

Surely a primary teacher must look at her 
work as a sacred trust and must act accordingly. 



THE NOON HOUR 

Time is money. This old saying is a trite 
statement of the generally accepted fact that we 
can not afford to waste or idly squander, even a 
moment of this precious possession. If we can 
not afford to waste time then it naturally follows 
that we can not afford to do worse than waste 
it — to fill it with harmful thoughts, words or 
actions. 

There is, among teachers in large school build- 
ings, an almost universal custom of congregating 
in one of the class-rooms or in a specially provided 
'lunch room" and so spending the noon hour 
together. This time, if properly spent, may be 
of great benefit to both the teacher and to the 
children whose intellectual and moral advance- 
ment she is directing. Such time will be profit- 
ably employed either in pleasant social intercourse 
or in the exchange of helpful experiences and useful 
suggestions along the various lines of school work 
so that the individual teacher may return to 
her afternoon tasks with some little gleam of 
inspiration gleaned from this mutual giving. 

43 



44 PRIMARY DEVICES 

It is to be regretted, however, that such results 
are not always the outcome of these noon gather- 
ings but that just the reverse is often true. 

Not infrequently the course of procedure is 
something like the following: Jack^s teacher 
relates in the most graphic manner all Jack^s 
midsemeanors for the day — she has related all 
the previous ones previously — and closes her 
recital with some such statement as, ^'Well, I 
don^t know what's to become of the boy'' or 
^'I'd not be surprised at anything from him." 
Then the other teachers who have dealt with 
Jack in the lower grades rehearse his past mis- 
doings and encourage his present teacher with 
such reminders as, ^'You know I told you that 
you'd have a time with him, etc." 

All this calls forth a similar recital of woes 
from Jimmie's teacher and similarly consoling 
remarks from Jimmie's previous teachers. And 
so the conversation proceeds. 

When the noon hour is over, both teachers 
return to their class rooms fully expecting some 



PRIMARY DEVICES 45 

form of wrong doing, and Jack and Jimmie feeling 
instinctively the distrust and fearful expectancy 
of the teachers, immediately proceed to fulfill 
that expectancy. And who is to blame? Are 
not the teachers as much responsible as the 
children? 

^ 'Do not look for wrong and evil, 
You will find them if you do; 

As you measure to your neighbor, 
He will measure back to you/' 

' 'Look for goodness, look for gladness — 
You will meet them all the while; 

If you bring a smiling visage 
To the glass you meet a smile.'' 
These words of Alice Carey, indicate the right 
attitude of the teacher toward the children in 
her care, and any conversation which dwells 
unnecessarily on their shortcomings will unfit 
her to keep this attitude and so interfere seriously 
with her getting the best out of the children. 



COURTESY 

The hearts of the Httle people in the primary 
grades are so overflowing with that love and good 
will to all of which true courtesy is the natural 
expression, that it is a delight to so direct their 
various activities that they may become naturally 
and habitually courteous. 

And the school room affords many and varied 
opportunities for making practical application 
of this teaching. 

The following are some of the ways of reaching 
definite results. 

Perhaps the teacher has learned that the Super- 
intendent, Mr. Smith, expects to visit her room 
to-day. After the opening exercises are over, 
she may talk to the children in some such way 
as this: ^'You'll never guess what nice thing's 
going to happen to-day. '^ Immediately a number 
of little hands will signify a desire to ''guess.'' 
Let them guess for a minute. Then if no one 
has ^'guessed" it, say: ''Mr. Smith's coming to 
see us to-day. Aren't we glad? Now let's think 
what we can do to make him have a good time. 

46 



PRIMARY DEVICES 47 

You know how he spends his whole time going 
about from school to school or in some other way 
doing something to help the boys and girls. So 
we want to do all we can to make him happy when 
he comes to see us." 

At once nearly every child in the room will 
set himself to thinking seriously and many ways 
of ^'helping Mr. Smith to have a good time'^ 
will be suggested. 

Possibly at this point some child, voicing the 
results of home influences, may say, ^'Well, he 
gets paid for it, doesn't he?" 

This will be an opportunity to bring out a 
right attitude toward public service and public 
servants. ^'Yes," she may answer, ^'he is paid 
for it but, you know, money can't pay for the 
thoughtfulness and kindness with which he is 
always planning and searching out better things 
for the children in our schools, etc." 

When this phase of the matter has been suffi- 
ciently discussed, then definite plans for Mr. 
Smith's entertainment may be begun. 



48 PRIMARY DEVICES 

The teacher should be careful to see that the 
children have their part in this discussion and 
that the plan outlined for ^'the entertainment 
of Mr. Smith'' is evolved by the children under 
her guidance and is not an arbitrary arrangement 
by herself. She should also be watchful that 
no least, timid suggestion be overlooked or under- 
valued. If some child suggests something that 
is not practical or for some other reasons can not 
be carried out, the teacher should explain the 
reasons and thanking the child for his willingness 
to help, avoid giving him a sense of discourage- 
ment which might prevent his giving expression 
to any other helpful idea which presented itself 
to him. 

The plan, when completed, might be something 
like the following. Of course, this in only sug- 
gestive and may be enlarged upon indefinitely. 

Certain definite things may be given to certain 
children. For example: Mary will take Mr. 
Smith's hat. John will get Mr. Smith a chair. 
Harry will give him a book if the class is reading 
when he comes, and there will be other little 



PRIMARY DEVICES 49^ 

courtesies of which they will think which may be 
assigned to certain ones. 

But this will not satisfy them as by this time, 
each child will feel that he must have some part 
in Mr. Smith's entertainment. 

The question, then, will be to find something 
that will please Mr. Smith in which all may par- 
ticipate. 

By careful guidance from the teacher, the 
children will see that ^'Mr. Smith couldn't be 
very happy if he had to sit and look at lazy, idle 
boys and girls — so everyone can help in that way 
— everyone can work. Then, of course, Mr. 
Smith will enjoy people who have nice quiet feet, 
nice quiet lips, people who are kind to their neigh- 
bors, etc., etc." 

The result will be that Mr. Smith will have a 
most delightful visit and will probably say so. 
If he does, the children may tell him how they 
have planned to make him ^'have a good time" 
which will add to their enjoyment of the occasion. 

After a few such planned ^'entertainments" 



50 PRIMARY DEVICES 

the children will perform these little hospitable 
offices spontaneously and naturally and a visitor 
to the school-room will be welcomed as cordially 
and entertained as graciously as a guest in the 
home. 

And to many of the children who have little 
or no such home training, this work in the school 
will open up ways of usefulness and thoughtful 
consideration for others that will be a continual 
delight to themselves and a source of joy and 
restfulness to all with whom they are associated. 



RETALIATION OR ^'GETTING EVEN'^ 

The desire to "get even*' for an offence imagin- 
ary, or otherwise, is often as strong with little 
children and forms as great a problem to those 
dealing with them as to those dealing with the 
so-called mature thought. 

Tom says, ^ 'John took my pencil and I'm going 
to take his pencil" or "Ben called me names 
and I'm going to call him names, etc." and it 
seems hard to impart to Tom's disturbed thought, 
smarting under the sense of injustice and injury, 
any desire or sense of the necessity for applying 
the Golden Rule. 

However, in this as in all other problems there 
is a right way. 

One way which has been tried and proved 
effective, is to place the suffering for the offence 
where it properly belongs — with the offender. 

Show Tom that the boy who does the wrong 
act is the one to be pitied and that the one thing 
for him to do is to be sure he does right himself. 

The little folks are very logical in their reason- 

51 



52 PRIMARY DEVICES 

ing and will soon grasp the truth in this view and 
will gradually learn to apply it. 

The following experience is to the point. 

One day, a primary teacher, who was trying to 
use this method in her own work, was on duty 
on the yard during the last part of the noon inter- 
mission. 

When the children began to return from their 
lunches, Freddie, a little seven-year-old, who was 
not one of her pupils, and so not accustomed to 
her ways, came to her in great distress, the tears 
running down his face, his clenched hands showing 
the intensity of his mental disturbance, and said, 
between his sobs, as he pointed to another boy, 
standing at some distance, ^'Miss Blank, that 
boy makes faces at me all the way home." 

Without seeming to recognize that there might 
be another side to the question, the teacher, 
putting her arm gently around Freddie, and 
looking pityingly at the other boy, said, ^'It's 
too bad, I'm so sorry for him. I don't believe 
he's very happy, do you?" 



PRIMARY DEVICES 53 

That was a new point of view to Freddie. 
With unfeigned astonishment and a quick, com- 
prehensive grasp of her meaning, he dropped his 
arms, dried his tears, and looking at her question- 
ingly for a moment, bounded off to his play with- 
out another word and that was the last she ever 
heard about the ^ 'faces." 



A SPELLING METHOD 

Every teacher knows that every child in the 
class can learn the spelling lesson assigned him. 
She knows also that when his work is not done, 
the failure is due in almost every instance, to 
neither lack of ability nor lack of time but to 
lack of application. The problem then, is, not 
to in any way change the work given him or to 
either force or persuade him to give more time 
to it ,but to find some way or ways to teach him 
to use to the best advantage the time he has, in 
other words to teach him how to apply himself 
to his work. She will therefore, find use for a 
great number of ways and methods of keeping 
the class persistently at work and yet keeping 
their interest from flagging. 

One excellent way to accomplish this result is to 
have each child ' 'run a race with himself .^^ They 
may ''run races'' with each other but that is 
apt to encourage dishonesty as the teacher cannot 
give personal supervision, and may also bring 
about a kind of rivalry which would result in 
discord. 

54 



PRIMARY DEVICES 55 

This may be arranged in this way. Each child 
may have a little book, which he can prepare 
himself, made of several small pieces of paper 
pinned together. 

When the study period arrives, the time to 
be devoted exclusively to the preparation of the 
spelling for the day, each child with his little 
book on the desk will begin his study while the 
teacher gives her attention to the other class. 

A certain number of times for the study of each 
word will be agreed upon as five times or ten 
times. Each child will go over the whole lesson, 
studying each word the required number of times. 
When he has studied the lesson in this way once, 
he will put down in his little book, on the page 
devoted to that day, one straight mark. 

Every time he goes over the lesson in this way, 
he will add another mark, thus keeping account 
of the number of times he goes over the lesson. 

When the study period has elapsed, the teacher 
will walk down the aisle, stopping beside each 
desk and so helping each child compare today^s 
record with yesterday's. 



56 PRIMARY DEVICES 

If this work is continued for a week, almost 
every child in the room will find that his record 
shows a steady increase in the number of times 
he has been able to go over the lesson and he will 
also have made an advance in the habit of appli- 
cation that will be worth much more than the 
mere learning of the spelling lesson. 

In this, as in all the other devices here presented, 
the teacher's enthusiastic appreciation of every 
effort as well as of avery achievement is absolutely 
essential to right results. 



WRITING 
A Slow Race. 

In almost every department of school work, 
the teacher's endeavor must be to encourage 
greater activity— greater speed in getting accurate 
results. This is the aim in the spelling work, 
the number work, and much of the other drill 
work that makes up the problems of each day. 

In teaching writing, exactly the reverse is true. 
The tendency with the children will be to rush 
through page after page of copy-book or paper, 
giving little or no attention to the forms of the 
letters. Any devices which will offset this ten- 
dency, will be welcomed by every primary teacher. 

One very helpful thing which may be used quite 
often, is a ''slow race." 

When the class have been given their writing 
materials, books, papers or whatever is being 
used, the teacher may say: ''We are going to 
do something new today— going to run a race— 
a new kind of a race — a 'slow race.' " 

Then the teacher will explain: "I am going 
to give you just so many minutes (five or ten) 

57 



58 PRIMARY DEVICES 

let you all begin at the same time and see who 
can write the smallest number of lines without 
wasting any of the time/' 

When the ^'race'^ begins, the teacher will have 
to keep very careful supervision that some of 
the children do not stop to look around and see 
how others are getting along or they may even 
stop a minute to let others get ahead. The 
teacher will have to guard against this and may 
do so by having it understood that anyone who 
is found not writing all the time, will not be 
counted in the race. 

If this ^'slow race'' is used quite often, the 
children will soon become observant of the letter 
forms — first because they are trying to write 
slowly and finally because they are interested in 
making them correctly. 

When the time has expired, the teacher may 
write on the board the names of those who wrote 
the smallest number of lines. 

Or when the race begins, the teacher may 
designate a certain number of lines, as: ''Now 



PRIMARY DEVICES 59 

let's see how many can write fewer than three 
lines'' in the given time. 

All who do this, have ^'won the race*', and may- 
have their names on the board. 

It will add to the interest if these names can 
be left on the board and every time a child ^ 'wins 
the race" a mark of some kind placed after his 
name. 

There comes a time in older grade work, when 
practice in rapid writing is necessary, but with 
the little people the essential thing is to form their 
letters carefully and correctly and this little 
device will prove a great aid in helping them to 
do this. 



^ 'Don't'' is a little word which might profit- 
ably be eliminated from every teacher's vocabu- 
lary. The only good thing that can be said 
about it is: ''Don't say it"— ''Don't use it." 

The use of this word in the school-room is not 
so common as it was in the last generation, but 
even so there is still opportunity for wisdom in 
"it's disuse." 

The kind of goodness which results from its 
frequent use is a negative kind of goodness — ■ 
goodness resulting from fear of the consequences 
of wrongdoing rather than active, energetic good- 
ness resulting from love of right. 

The constant use of this word tends to paralize 
originality and activity if it does not cease to 
have any effect whatever. In correcting wrong 
habits or errors of any kind, it will be found much 
more effective to recommend the right course of 
action than to forbid the wrong. It will be found 
better to say: "John, see what a nice straight 
back you can have," rather than: "John, don't 
stoop over your desk in that way" or to say: 
"John, see how still you can keep your feet," 

60 



PRIMARY DEVICES 61 

rather than, ''John, don't make so much noise 
with your feet." 

This constant use of ' 'don't" continually, directs 
the children's attention to the very thing which 
you wish to correct, thus, with those who endeavor 
to be obedient creating a fear that they will 
disobey and so bringing to pass the very thing 
they would avoid while with the careless or unruly 
it serves to keep the matter constantly in thought 
when the only way to destroy the wrong habit 
or action is to first eliminate it from thought. 

At the close of the day, if the teacher has ob- 
served ever so sUght an effort on John's part to 
have quiet feet, she will find it very effective to 
make some Httle comment showing her appre- 
ciation of John's effort as: 'Tou don't know how 
much I have enjoyed John's nice quiet feet today," 
or ' 'How much John has helped us all today by 
having such nice quiet feet." A few such little 
remarks will do more for John's feet than all the 
"don'ts" you can crowd into a term. 

"Yes," someone may say, "but the children 



62 PRIMARY DEVICES 

should do right just because it is right and with 
no other incentive/^ 

True, but which of us older ones has yet risen 
above the need of occasional incentive in the way 
of encouragement and appreciative recognition 
of our effort? And while the one object should 
be to teach the children to do right for the love 
of right only — while that should be the bright 
and shining goal, yet there are camping places 
on the journey there — rest places where they 
may turn for food and drink — and perhaps for 
shelter before they march onward with renewed 
energy. And these occasional words of encour- 
agement from those we know love us and would 
help us, are such rest places on the road. 

Many of these little ones never hear an encour- 
aging word in their home life — many times the 
mother is too busy caring for the material needs, 
to think of this greater need, and sometimes she 
doesn't recognize that there is such a need, so 
oftentimes the children are heart-hungry for 
that httle bit of loving recognition which may 
transform the most difficult and distasteful task 
into an endless delight. 



TIME SAVERS 

While we do not want our children to be * 'time 
servers'^ we do want them to learn to be ''time 
savers'^ for many an otherwise well-equipped 
youth has suffered defeat solely because of his 
inability to take care of the minutes — his lack 
of appreciation of their value and importance. 

The person who pleads lack of time as an excuse 
for failing in certain duties, will frequently find, 
if he will stop to consider the matter, that his 
failure was due not so much to lack of time as 
to lack of wisdom in using his time. 

The school-room is the place to teach the value 
of time and there are many little devices that 
may be used to advantage in establishing time- 
saving habits. 

Here is one that will be found helpful. 

Frequently when you can spare a few minutes 
between recitations, two, three or sometimes even 
one, stand before the class with watch in hand 
or directing children's attention to clock, show 
them with pointer just where the minute hand 
is now and just where it will be at the end of the 

63 



64 PRIMARY DEVICES 

next two or three minutes or whatever the time 
you wish to use. 

Then say to them, ' 'Now, I am going to stand 
here while you study spelHng. Each one get a 
piece of paper and your pencil and every time 
you go over the spelling once, put a mark on your 
paper. Don't look at the clock and when the 
time is gone I'll tell you and then I'll let each 
one tell me how many times you studied it. I'll 
tap the bell when the time is gone. 

Immediately every child will go to work with 
a will — there will not be an idle thought in the 
room. 

When the time has expired tap the bell requir- 
ing every child to fold his hands on the desk. 
Then run down each line quickly allowing each 
child to tell you how many lines he has on his 
paper. Commend those who have done well — 
both those who have gone over the lesson many 
times and those whom you saw working hard. 
Then point out to them how much has been 
accomplished in these few minutes and then drop 
the matter. 



PRIMARY DEVICES 65 

Do this as often as convenient, always dwelling 
on how much has been accomplished in the short 
time. 

This time may be put on some specially hard 
word or words in the spelling, on the tables or 
on any other part of the work that requires special 
attention and may in that way be made to do 
double duty. 

Then it will be well to refer to these experiences 
occasionally, always calling attention to the fact 
that it was ^'only a minute" and yet that much 
work was done. 

This will be particularly helpful to the child 
who habitually says or thinks, ^Tn a minute" 
or ' 'Wait a minute." 



WELCOMING COMMITTEE 

Many of the children in out schools come from 
homes where the finer things of life are entirely 
lacking, and all the training they will get in these 
will have to come through the schools so the 
school should be on the alert always, that it may 
sieze any opportunity to help uplift. 

A ^'Welcoming Committee'' will be prolific of 
good with these little people. 

This committee may consist of two or three 
members and should be appointed Monday morn- 
ing to serve during the week. 

The teacher will have to use wisdom in her 
appointments, especially at first, choosing only 
those who have confidence and are not afraid, 
later the timid ones may gradually be pressed 
into service. 

When she first appoints the ^'committee*', 
the teacher should give a few general instructions 
as to their duties and then leave them free to 
be as original as they like, and she will be delighted 
to see how many thoughtful, kind, courteous 
things they will think to do. 

66 



PRIMARY DEVICES 67 

The general directions given the ''committee", 
should be such as will enable them to make any 
visitor feel ''at home" and comfortable among 
them. Some of these will be to go to the door 
when someone knocks or enters, to offer a chair 
and a book, take a lady^s parasol and packages, 
or gentleman's hat and cane, etc. 

Of course, the other children must attend to 
their work and it will be understood that only 
from among those who do so, will the committee 
for the next week be appointed. 

This will not only be of great value to the 
children, but will also be a source of great pleasure 
and satisfaction to the guests. 



TEACHERS 

The primary teacher cannot have too many 
* 'devices'' for securing sufficient drill on spelling 
and on the different number combinations, tables, 
etc. 

This has been found a very successful method 
to be used occasionally. 

Suppose the teacher has two classes in the 
room, and one of the classes is learning the tables. 
During the study period which is assigned to 
this class while the teacher is giving her attention 
to the other class, much may be accomplished by 
letting some child ''play teacher.'^ 

The teacher should begin her work with the 
other class, allowing this class five or ten minutes 
to study their work, tables, spelling or whatever 
the work may be. 

When the time has expired, she should allow 
someone, whom she has seen working all the 
time, to attempt the task assigned — she may 
suspend her work with the other class long enough 
to hear this one ' 'say his table,'' ' 'spell his words" 
or do whatever else the work calls for. 

68 



PRIMARY DEVICES 69 

If his effort is a success, then she should place 
a little table in the front of the room — by her 
desk, allowing this child ^'to be teacher'' for his 
class while she goes on with her other work. 

This ^'teacher'' will quietly watch the class 
for a few minutes to see ^'who is working hard" 
and then, by some sign upon which they have 
agreed and which will not disturb the work of 
the other class, he will signify his desire to hear 
this child recite the work he has been preparing. 

In this way he will go on hearing each in turn, 
till all have had an opportunity, always being 
careful to select one who has ^'been doing good 
hard work." 

There should be somewhere in the room and 
easy of access, a supply of books — story books 
or other books of interest to the children and as 
they do their work to the satisfaction of the 
^'teacher'' they may each select a book for him- 
self, and devote the rest of the time to his book. 

If any child fails, he must go back to his work 
and apply himself to it till he can show the results 



70 PRIMARY DEVICES 

of work in his recitation. Then he, too, may 
have a book. 

This will keep the class profitably employed 
while the teacher is busy with the other class 
and will also be of great value in giving much 
practice on difficult phases of the work and in 
doing this in a way that will be a pleasure to the 
children. 

The teacher should be careful in her selection 
of a ^'teacher", choosing one who is not only 
capable but just, impartial and independent as 
well, and as fast as practicable each child should 
have his opportunity. 



THE TEACHER^S ''HOLIDAY" 

One of the mistakes most frequently made by 
the mother in the home, is that of taking all the 
care and responsibility thus allowing the children 
to form the habit of depending on ''Mother'^ 
for everything. Then when the children are 
older, the Mother cannot understand why they 
have so little regard for her comfort, remembering 
as she does, how her one thought was to spare 
them all care and she does not see that she is 
but reaping the result of her wrong methods. 

In the school-room, the same wrong method is 
frequently followed, and the children are not 
taught to regard in any measure, the teacher ^s 
rights or comfort. 

To be sure, both teacher and pupils may argue, 
''Yes, but the teacher is paid for her work for 
the children and it is her business to see that all 
their school needs are cared for." 

Yes, truly, and it is for that very reason that 
it is part of her work for them that she endeavor 
to teach them a due regard and consideration for 
those who serve them. Many of the children 

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72 PRIMARY DEVICES 

will never learn it at all if they do not learn it 
at school. Gratitude to public servants for un- 
selfish and efficient service, is something that 
needs cultivation among our American young 
people. 

There are many little devices which the teacher 
can use to bring out a better sense in this regard. 

One of these ways is to have an occasional 
^'holiday '^herself. 

Some morning at the beginning of school, she 
may announce to the children: ^'I have been 
teaching every day for a long time and now I 
feel as if I'd like to be company today and let 
someone else do the teaching. '^ 

This will delight the children and they will all 
want to ^'be teacher.'' 

Then the teacher may select someone in whom 
she has confidence to hear the first recitation, 
while she sits back in her chair playing company, 
and turning the school, as far as possible, over 
to the children. 

She may select some other child for teacher 



PRIMARY DEVICES 73 

during the next recitation, and so on till she has 
been ^ 'company'^ long enough. When her ''holi- 
day" is over, whether a day or a part of a day, 
she should tell the class how much she has enjoyed 
her "holiday '^ and commend their every little 
effort to make her ' 'have a good time.'' 

If the children have been allowed a good deal 
of freedom in the school-room, they will think 
of many little things to do. One child may go 
out and get her a drink, another, if it is a warm 
day, may offer her a fan, etc. All these little 
courtesies should be received in the spirit in which 
they are given and with a grateful recognition. 

If something of this kind is used frequently, 
the teacher will soon see a marked improvement 
in the children's attitude toward her and it will 
not be only on her special "holidays," but there 
will be an increasing thoughtfulness for her com- 
fort each day and every day. 



EXPRESSION 

Of course, it is advisable to have the children 
learn to bring out the meaning in what they 
read, as early in their study of reading, as possible. 

The reading methods of today in which much 
preparatory work is done on the board and in 
other ways, before books are put into the hands 
of the children ,does much to bring about right 
results in this matter. 

And yet, with all this drill and careful prepara- 
tion, the teacher will frequently find that as soon 
as the children begin to use their books, the ten- 
dency is to ^'say words" and give little or no 
attention to bringing out the meaning. It is 
usually of little help to tell the child to ^ 'bring 
out the meaning'^ or to ^'use expression" as these 
interruptions only serve to confuse and discour- 
age him. There are, however, many little helps 
in this work which every teacher finds for herself 
and the following are some such helps that have 
been proved in the school-room. 

Every day, just before the reading from the 
books, it will be found helpful to have a little 

74 



PRIMARY DEVICES 75 

preparatory board work. The teacher may write 
on the board, two or more short sentences formed 
from some of the longer sentences in one of the 
paragraphs of the lesson. For instance, she may 
write: ''John had two apples." Then she may 
ask some child to read it, telling him to have some 
''strong" word in it. In reading this sentence, 
this child may make "John" the "strong" word 
and read it in this way: ''John had two apples." 
The teacher should commend this reading and 
lead the class to see that this way of reading it, 
shows that it was not Tom or Ben who had the 
two apples, but "John." 

Then she may ask who will volunteer to make 
some other word the "strong" word. Perhaps 
Henry volunteers and reads it, making "two" 
the "strong" word in this way: "John had two 
apples." The class will readily see that Henry's 
reading brings out the number of apples John 
had— not three or four— just two. 

Another reading, making "had" the "strong" 
word and bringing out the thought that John had 



76 PRIMARY DEVICES 

the apples but hasn^t them now and still another 
making apples the ^ 'strong'^ word, and bringing 
out the thought that John had apples, not peaches, 
pears, or anything else — just apples, will help 
the class to see that much depends on having 
some '' strong '^ words and also on making just 
the right words ^ 'strong'^ words. 

Then when the class turns to the book and reads 
about John and the apples, a number of the 
children will apply what they have learned, some- 
times almost unconsciously, and will so inevitably 
put more expression into the lesson. 

If this method is used persistently, the class 
may go to the extreme of having many ''strong" 
words and 'Very strong'^ words, and will some- 
times make the reading of a very simple passage 
quite dramatic. But this need cause no alarm, 
as any such extravagance will gradually be modi- 
fied and even if it were not, it would be preferable 
to the monotone which so often becomes habitual. 

Another help in this work is to tell them to 
"talk'^ the reading. It is not well to talk to 



PRIMARY DEVICES 77 

them about ^'expression'' as that sounds big 
and hard to them. They may be allowed to 
read a sentence — the sentences for this work 
should be short — then shut the book and ^'talk'^ 
it to the teacher. 

Then when some child can read some lesson 
especially well, he may be allowed to take his 
book to the office and read it to the Principal, if 
she has time to hear him. Another time, the 
Principal may be ^'invited'' to come and hear 
some specially good reading, and one or two of 
the children who are to do the reading, may take 
her the invitation. 

Then, by special arrangements among the 
teachers, these little ones may be allowed to 
read, occasionally, a well-prepared story to one 
of the upper grades who will get no less pleasure 
and frequently no less profit from these occasions 
than do the little ones themselves, whose sweet- 
ness and genuine simplicity will be a source of 
delight to the older ones. 

Then again, they may sometimes be allowed — 



78 PRIMARY DEVICES 

children in the third and fourth grades — to read 
a particularly interesting story to the first grade. 
These are only a few of the little helps that 
will make the reading work both more pleasant 
and more profitable. 



^'SECRETS'^ OR ^'SURPRISES'^ 

There is nothing that so pleases a child as to 
''have a secret" and to "have a secret with the 
teacher" affords him the greatest dehght. 

This tendency of the child-thought may be so 
gratified as to bring about very satisfactory 
results. 

Some of the ways in which this may be used 
are here presented. 

Suppose the class in numbers has been having 
hard work with some of the tables— the 8's for 
example, say to them some morning, ''Wouldn't 
it be just fine if we could all learn that table so 
well that Miss Green (the teacher) could put a 
big red 100 on every paper- Then we could 
put them up on the front board and ask Miss 
Rivers (the Principal) to come in and see them. 
Wouldn't she enjoy it- Suppose we try it. 
Let's all work just as hard as we can, and the 
first time we all have 100, we'll call Miss Rivers 
in to see our papers." 

As soon as the class has decided to attempt 
this achievement. Miss Rivers may be invited 

79 



80 PRIMARY DEVICES 

into the room and acquainted with the fact that 
a surprise is awaiting her — is preparing for her. 
She may also be informed that at present it is 
a secret. She may then be induced by a little 
outside explanation from the teacher, to come in 
frequently to ^ 'see if that surprise is nearly ready" 
and ^ 'if she is soon to be let into that secret." 

This will help to keep the children enthusiastic 
and they will find all kinds of ways to practice 
"saying the table." They will take the work 
home. Father and Mother, big brothers and 
sisters with other members of the family will 
be pressed into service and called upon "to hear 
me say my table." 

Every day the teacher will find a few minutes 
for this subject, will distribute slips of paper to 
the class, asking them to write the table, allowing 
a certain length cf time in which to do it and 
collecting the papers at the end of that time, 
whether they are finished or not. 

Perhaps the "surprise" may be delayed by 
the laziness and idleness of Tom and Kitty, 



PRIMARY DEVICES 81 

which results in their daily failure to attain the 
standard of perfection. The class will soon be 
come awake to this — will soon recognize what 
it is that is delaying matters, and ^'pubhc senti- 
ment '^ will become so pronounced in the class 
against idleness and laziness that Tom and Kitty 
will be glad to get to work in earnest and so will 
soon bring sufficient effort to bear to enable them 
to reach the required standard. 

Then, when the unbroken line of ''big red 
lOO's" is displayed across the front of the room, 
Miss Rivers may be called in, told that the 
* 'surprise'^ is ready and so "let into the secret.'' 

Her enthusiastic appreciation of the occasion 
will delight the children and as soon as she has 
gone there will probably come from all parts of 
the room, "Let's do it again," and "Let's give 
her another surprise." 

The teacher will, of course, encourage these 
aspirations in the right direction and various 
other "surprises" may be planned. 

In this way, many of the otherwise ' 'hard 



82 PRIMARY DEVICES 

places*^ may be made a pleasure to the children. 

Other tables, those that seem especially hard, 
may be used as a basis for these ''surprises" 
and the manner of presentation may be varied — 
indeed must be to hold the interest of the class. 

One ''surprise'^ with the tables may take this 
form. When every child in the class can repeat 
this particular table, then Miss Rivers may be 
called in, the children may stand, arranging 
themselves in two rows as for an old-fashioned 
spelling match. If the class is about evenly 
divided between girls and boys, it may add to 
the interest to have the boys on one side and the 
girls on the other. Then each child will repeat 
the "table,^' first one on one side and then one 
on the other, as in the spelling match. If a child 
fails to do it readily, he may sit down. When 
each child has had his chance, then it will be 
ascertained how many on each side were able 
to stand. But the object of the ''surprise" will 
be to prove to Miss Rivers that everyone can do 
it, and the ''surprise" will not be considered an 
absolute success if any child has failed. 



PRIMARY DEVICES 83 

This method may also be used in spelling. A 
list of the words habitualy misspelled may be 
kept and drills of various kinds may be used with 
them and then when every child has mastered 
them all, they will be ready for another ^ 'surprise." 

Miss Rivers may be called in and each child 
in turn allowed to stand and spell all the words, 
they may write them on slips of paper, the teacher 
marking the lOO's in some conspicuous way, or 
in any other of a variety of ways show that they 
have mastered these particular words. 

The effort and the work required in preparing 
these ^'surprises" will so fix these things in 
thought that there will be no danger of their 
being forgotten and will, moreover, establish 
habits of persistence, application, industry and 
originality that will be invaluable to them, not 
only in all their school work but also in all the 
work of all the years that follow. 

This idea of ''secrets" and "surprises" can be 
used effectively in many other ways of which 
the teacher will think for herself. 



84 PRIMARY DEVICES 

One way is for the class to have a ^'secret'' 
with the teacher which, when the preparations 
are all made, is to be disclosed to the ' 'Fathers, 
Mothers, etc.'' The children will each inform 
the members of his family that an event of im- 
portance is approaching and that they are to 
share the secret when the right time arrives. 
This will arouse an interest in the family and so 
stimulate the child's activities that he will be 
able to bring out speedy and desirable results. 

These ' 'surprises" for the family should con- 
sist of exercises taken from the regular school 
work, and especially from those parts of the 
work that have presented special difficulties to 
the class or to any part of the class. These things 
should be dwelt upon, practiced and reviewed 
till the children have mastered them, then they 
may be made into a program to which ''the 
family" is invited. 

Perhaps John's weak point has been spelling. 
Then John can practice on a particularly hard 
list of words till he is sure of them. As John's 



PRIMARY DEVICES 85 

part of the ^'entertainment" he may stand in 
the front of the room and spell these words as 
they are pronounced by the teacher and nothing 
will so gratify John^s mother, who knows his 
struggles with spelling, as to see him come off 
victor in this encounter. 

Jack, who has had to do good work to memorize 
the tables, may do special work on these, and so 
be prepared to repeat several of the more difficult 
tables. 

Several of the most interesting lessons in the 
regular reading work, may be read by children, 
who have worked at them till they can read them 
well. 

The ''memory gems" which have been learned 
during the term, may be recited, some in concert 
by the whole class, and some by individuals. 

The songs they have learned may be used in 
the same way — there may be a chorus or two and 
then "solos," "duets," "trios" etc., etc. 

Some of the children may tell stories — either 
something they have found for themselves or 
something told to the class by the teacher. 



86 PRIMARY DEVICES 

Many other helpful plans and devices for these 
^'entertainments'^ will present themselves to both 
teacher and children, but everything having place 
in these programs should be part of the regular 
school work. 

In this way, the parents may become familiar 
with and interested in, the daily work of the 
children and this will result in a healthy spirit 
of co-operation between the home and the school 
besides calling into interested activity the child's 
best efforts in all the lines of school work. 

Programs for these occasions may be prepared 
by some of the class who do neat, careful writing. 
The teacher may write the program on the front 
board and, giving these children each a number 
of papers of uniform shape and size allow them 
to make as many copies as she thinks can be used, 
and this work may constitute their part in the 
^ 'entertainment. '' 

There are many other ways in which this ' 'sur- 
prise '^ method may be used. 

The girls may be allowed to come into the room 



PRIMARY DEVICES 87 

early some morning and decorate with flowers 
and greenery as a surprise for the boys and the 
boys may be permitted to do the same for the 
girls or perhaps their manual work will furnish 
something pleasing and helpful with which to 
surprise the girls. 

Sometimes some individual child may have a 
^'secret" with the teacher and prepare a surprise 
for the whole class as some interesting story, some 
pleasing song, etc., etc. 

The teacher, by a little consultation and mutual 
adjustments with the teacher of the class just 
above or below, may arrange for one room to 
^'surprise" the other. 

If it is approved by all, principal, teachers and 
pupils, these little ones may even be allowed to 
prepare a surprise for one of the upper grades. 

This kind of work will bring about a spontaneity 
and originality of thought and action among the 
children, the value of which cannot be estimated 
and will also inspire a spirit of unity and mutual 
understanding between teacher and pupils which 
will be a basis for co-operative work along all 
lines, while at the same time it will secure the 
necessary drill and review on the difficult parts 
of the work without making that drill irksome. 



''CO-OPERATION'^ 

Mucn as it is in the home where Mother does 
everything — attends to everything — is responsible 
for everything — thus depriving the children of 
their share in the responsibilities of the home- 
making which is their right and which should be 
their preparation for intelligent and efficient 
service in the world's work — so it is in school. 

The teacher, forgetting that the school is for 
the children and that a little work done by them 
is better than much work done by herself or that 
even poor work which is the result of the children's 
best effort is better than perfect work, the result 
of the teacher's years of experience — impatient 
with their awkwardness or their clumsy results — 
finds it easier and more satisfactory to do many 
things herself which should be done — no matter 
how imperfectly — ^by the children, thus defeating 
in a measure, the very purpose of the school. 

Suppose the children's work is imperfect — 
amateur — we learn by our mistakes. ''Experi- 
ence is always victor." 

The wise and the conscientious teacher, there- 



PRIMARY DEVICES 89 

fore, will always be on the lookout to see how 
much of the school problem in all its varied phases 
she can turn over to the children. And she will 
find as she does this, that new ways will be con- 
stantly opening by which the work of the school, 
government and all, may be given over into the 
hands of the boys and girls. She will find, to 
her deUght, that in the degree in which she learns 
to trust them and learns to expect them to be 
reliable and efficient, in that same degree they 
will begin to manifest self-reUant trustworthiness. 
This will also develop that spirit of co-operation 
between teacher and pupils which is so essential 
to obtaining right results in any line. 

There are many ways in which she may begin 
to make the children feel that it is their school 
and that they are responsible for its success— 
also to estabhsh a pride in their work which will 
be far-reaching. 

One helpful way to begin this work is to leave 
the children alone frequently. 

If the teacher has no excuse for leaving the 



90 PRIMARY DEVICES 

room ,she may go outside the door and stand in 
the hall for a few minutes. Before doing this, 
she should tell the class that she will be gone only 
a little while and that on returning, she will ask 
how many worked all the time she was out and 
tried to do just as nearly right as they would have 
done had she been there. 

The first time she tries this she will probably 
find that in answer to her query every hand in 
the room will be raised. Then there will immedi- 
ately follow a sudden outburst from a half dozen 
indignant little citizens: ''Why, Miss Blank, 
John had his hand up and he didn't work at all,'' 
or ''John talked all the time. Miss Blank, etc., 
etc." 

The best way to deal with this, will be for Miss 
Blank to answer in some such way as this: "Did 
he? I'm so sorry! I didn't think John would 
do that way. I don't believe he's very happy, 
etc." — then give her attention to those who did 
do right allowing them to tell how many times 
they studied the spelling or the table or whatever 
their work was — pay no more attention to John 



PRIMARY DEVICES 91 

and the probabilities are that the next time she 
leaves the room, John will do his share. 

Possibly there will be others who do not work 
and who do not raise their hands. If there are 
those who do this, the same treatment given John 
will usually prove effective for if they have dis- 
turbed no one, there will be no incentive to further 
wrongdoing. 

The teacher should give much attention, how- 
ever, to those who did their best, referring to 
their work frequently and calling attention to it 
whenever opportunity offers. 

Very soon she will find that she may leave the 
room for an indefinite length of time and the work 
will go on as harmoniously and uninterruptedly 
as if she were there. 

Of course, this kind of work is valuable beyond 
price in helping to establish habits of self-govern- 
ment, self-reliance and honesty. 

Someone may object, however, and say that a 
self-reporting system encourages dishonesty and 
deception. That may be the tendency in the 



92 PRIMARY DEVICES 

beginning, but as the method already outHned 
is carried out, it will be found to eliminate rather 
than encourage these things. 

Many other little ways will be found every day 
by which the children can co-operate with the 
teacher and they will do it heartily. 

Suppose a little table holding a bowl of roses 
is to be placed where the roses will appear to the 
best advantage. 

It may be easier and take less time for the 
teacher to place the table and have the roses on 
it when school begins, but it will be more helpful 
to the children to "talk it over'^ with the class 
and let them help make the decision. And they 
will not only have an added lesson in co-operative 
work, but will also profit by having their artistic 
sense guided and quickened by the experience. 

Perhaps curtains are to be procured for the 
windows — ''talk it over" with them — discuss 
color, style, etc., and so make them feel an inter- 
est in the selection of the curtains and a satisfac- 
tion in them when they are obtained. 



PRIMARY DEVICES 93 

These are only a few of the many little oppor- 
tunities which every teacher may use to advantage 
in establishing a spirit of mutual and loving 
helpfulness between teacher and pupils which 
will help to make school days a jo}^ and also will 
establish habits that will be priceless in the years 
to come. 



